André Werner | overhead installations

overhead projector based media art installations

André Werner is a media artist who explores the realm of pictures and their effects on perception and reality. His overhead installations are a distinctive feature of his artistic practice, creating immersive and dynamic environments that challenge the conventional modes of representation. Using an overhead projector as a medium, he transforms photographs, objects, liquids and other materials into moving images that are projected onto walls, ceilings or other surfaces. The result is a poetic and playful interplay of light, shadow, color and motion that invites the viewer to experience the art work from different perspectives and distances.

Some of his overhead installations are based on photographs that he manipulates with various devices or elements to create a cinematic quality. These installations are in a constant flux, always changing due to the random nature of the set-ups. They are essentially based on light, immaterial works that come to life by the movement of water.

One of his most notable overhead installations is “Portrait of a lady from a good family”, which features a portrait of a woman printed on overhead transparency, floating in a bowl of water placed on the overhead projector. A running vibrator, attached to the lens of the projector, is hanging above the bowl. A feather, attached to the vibrator, delicately touches the water surface below, triggering a constantly changing projection of the floating portrait. The work is a playful and poetic exploration of identity, femininity and sexuality.

Another example is “Infundere”, which was first presented in a church. The work shows caustics (light reflexes) caused by falling drops from an infusion apparatus into a bowl of water, as a projection into the nave. This work is inspired by the writings of Raimundus Lullus, a 13th-century philosopher and theologian who proposed that reason and faith are not opposed but complementary. The work suggests a metaphor for the human quest for knowledge and transcendence, as well as a visual spectacle that creates a contrast between the ancient architecture and the contemporary technology.

André Werner’s overhead installations are not fixed or static, but constantly changing due to the random nature of the set-ups. These works are essentially based on light, immaterial works that come to life by the movement of water. They invite the viewers to experience a different perception of reality, one that is more open, playful and mysterious.

Chachou Songe-Creux